Dear members,

FUE in particular has become exceedingly popular in balding men who desire to keep their hair cropped short on the sides and back of their head. Though both FUT/strip via microscopic dissection and FUT via FUE cause some scarring, the main advantage of FUE is that it does not create a linear scar like FUT via strip. However historically, consistency in hair growth yield and price have deterred many away from FUE.

Recently, members got into a debate about whether or not the costs physicians charge for FUE are reasonable on Cymru1980's FUE surgical experience page. Unfortunately, the debate started to get personal and brought a member's results thread off topic.

Members who want to continue to respectfully debate whether or not the costs of FUE are reasonable are welcome to do so here. However, do remember that our community promotes respect and doesn't tolerate personal mudslinging or profanity.

I look forward to hearing your points of view.

Best wishes,

Bill

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Managing Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog and the Hair Loss Forum and Social Community

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To learn about how I restored my hair, view my my hair loss website.

Remember, true beauty radiates from within, not from the skin.

I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.

In my opinion, FUE costs are reasonable.

Compare the costs vs benefits for all medical ht treatments:

50 year cost of Propecia @ $70 CDN per month: $42,000. Best case benefits, some hair regrowth (if you are VERY lucky) and hair stabilization . $42K is expensive for this benefit if you ask me. And yes, I know Proscar is much cheaper and I think its highly unlikely that Propecia will be around for 50 years since there will likely be better treatments discovered.

50 year cost of Rogaine @ $63 CDN per month: $38,000, with similar benefits as Propecia. Again $38K seems expensive for the benefits received, esp when they are not guaranteed to last.

6000 FUE grafts (average donor density) @ $6 per graft: $36,000. The benefit being that your hair is spread out over your balding area for the rest of your life. At a cheaper price than Propecia and Rogaine with MORE benefits....there is no question that $6 per FUE graft is reasonable.

Even if you pay $12 per FUE graft with Dr. Bernstein or $10 per FUE graft with Feller, you are still getting more bang for your buck than with Propecia and Rogaine.

Why people would pay A LOT more to go with those docs, I dont know since there are cheaper docs who provide similar results.....but we operate in a free market and that is their prerogative to pay more........

To those who complain about Feller's high prices, I have simple advice: DON'T GO WITH HIM. I'm going with Shapiro for FUE and will get similar results than with Feller but I will never disrespect those who do choose Feller, even if I would never in a million years pay more than the market value for a service without significant value added. The bottom line is that picking a ht doc is a very personal choice and people should not be bashed for it.....esp when Feller produces great work and provides good serice.

6-$7 is reasonable and likely to be the price across the board IMO over the long term.

Strip use to be very expensive, the prices have plummeted with larger sessions.

That is my opinion, and please take your caps off and don't shout.

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Dec. 2004 - 1938 Grafts via Strip
Feb. 2009 - 1002 Grafts via FUE

My apologies for the CAPS LOCK.

I am a very passionate guy who means well but sometimes I get carried away and HAVE TROUBLE RESISTING THE URGE TO STAY AWAY FROM THE CAPS LOCK KEY!

Regardless, I thought my cost benefit analysis of the various hair loss treatments was solid.

Ronald,

We are all in this difficult situation together, although we wish to wake up in the morning with all our hair back - it continues to be a long and often stressful endeavour.

Your passion is clear and that is good, there are lots of opinions here - and often from very different perspectives. It is usually best to not get into personal debates, IMO.

You did an excellent analysis, however I would say they over-estimate a little since, it is unlikely we will be on these meds for 50 years...I hope! lol.

Thanks.

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Dec. 2004 - 1938 Grafts via Strip
Feb. 2009 - 1002 Grafts via FUE

Yeah agreed, can't wait for the day that we get a new hair loss treatment!

Heres to hoping for hair cloning soon!

The price of FUE is precisely where it should be. The crux is that there is competition, incentive, and diversity of choice at play -- and there is. The specific #s associated with given doctors are really irrelevant, insofar as the aforementioned variables are in play. The #s that tag along for the ride are what they are; attempting to infiltrate (aside from simply not partaking and validating) in what a given doctor charges isn't just ineffective, but counterproductive in the horrible precadent it sets were other people to actually follow suit and play the same game. A million lines in the sand can be drawn from a million people in a million different places and none carry more individual worth, justice, righteousness, or fairness than the other.

Wanting to play economic King Kong and make blazing (and blazingly subjective and relative) statements about what a given doctor "should" be charging re-directs where the focus should be, and infuses the arena with unnecessary emotion that simply isn't germane. You can postulate -- and speculate -- on what a doctor *could* charge, but the same can't be said for what a doctor *should* charge. And traffic moves both ways, of course: Dr. X could possibly go from 10/g to 7/g; he could also quite easily go to 11/g and make more money. Is he now a saint for not going to 11/g?

In actuality, there is a clear downward trend in the price of FUE, while the quality remains on the rise. We truly couldn't ask -- nor should we want -- much more.

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*A Follicles Dying Wish To Clinics*

1 top-down, 1 portrait, 1 side-shot, 1 hairline....4 photos. No flash.

Follicles have asked for centuries, in ten languages, as many times so as to confuse a mathematician.

Enough is enough! Give me documentation or give me death!

haha...if that aint the kettle callin the pot black...

There arent enough FUE docs to bring prices down to a more reasonable level. The last thing we need is the demand side cheerleading some of the highest prices on the supply side.

having had a number of elective surgeries I can tell you I have negotiated them ALL down to reasonable amounts....often reductions of 25%...I got the docs I wanted at the price I thought was fair based on comparable market pricing/locations ect. With FUE its a supply side issue...plain and simple..I refuse to cheerlead a docs prices when I know if there was more competition amazingly his price would go down. Does that mean one less country club membership? Maybe a few more patients than desired?

Strip prices keep getting lower and lower..but how? Doesnt take teh same amount of techs ect? Competition..plain and simple..

You're incorrect on two levels, firstly. I've simply been calling out and dissecting your emotions, which you've continued into this post; more importantly, the expression you're trying to label me with is "pot calling the kettle black".

Anyways, I know facts can be stubborn things, so I'll reiterate one last time what has already been said, and what can already be gleaned by the cold hard facts of reality -- the price of FUE *is* going down, as it already *has* gone down. This is a fact. So your entire first paragraph, including the emotional-label of calling people who disagree with you "cheerleaders" is 100% incorrect.

You don't like to cheerlead for "docs prices", but I do wish you'd cheerlead for the facts that exist and are being reiterated in this (and other) threads for your consumption, instead of rehashing your emotional, subjective desires and projecting that onto what you think society must look like and how private enterprise operates.

Your second paragraph suffers from the same ailment as your first -- it is based in non-reality, as there is excellent competition within FUE, with an upward trend. This is a fact. And as I already stated, the competition is on the rise. This is a process. It isn't static, it is dynamic, it is in play, and it is moving along at an excellent pace. You seem more concerned with wanting to control how much money an individual can make than the actual events going on that actually impact the very thing you purport to be so concerned with -- that is, competition within FUE, and the subsequent drive of the price becoming more competitive across the HT landscape.

This is what's happening, whether or not it perfectly conforms with your obsession over how wealthy and luxurious the lives of skilled, effective doctors are living.

PS I think Dr. Feller is a saint for not raising his FUE price to 11/graft. How could you not agree with me when he could so easily be charging more than what he currently charges and make even more money to gain even more country club memberships?

PPS The very real, very important facet of this discussion that hasn't even been discussed is the incentive for doctors to spend their money/time on braving new advancements in FUE, expressly benefiting patients worldwide, and one in the same serving to ultimately lower the price of FUE as productivity and ability increases. Ironically, yet not actually surprising, Dr. Feller is an absolute leader in this regard.

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*A Follicles Dying Wish To Clinics*

1 top-down, 1 portrait, 1 side-shot, 1 hairline....4 photos. No flash.

Follicles have asked for centuries, in ten languages, as many times so as to confuse a mathematician.

Enough is enough! Give me documentation or give me death!

If only more people had Thana's understanding of a free-market economy. What you saw with strip costs will happen with FUE in due time.

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2008 Dr. G – presumably 1,000 grafts / 2,142 hairs
2009 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 2,348 grafts / 4,258 hairs
2011 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 1,999 grafts / 3,624 hairs

My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group